Hey, guys, we are here to talk about the pros and cons of living in Portsmouth, Virginia, and it starts right now. I’m Jonathan and this is my wife and partner, Rachel Beasley, and we are local real estate brokers right here in Hampton Roads, Virginia. And today we’re talking about Portsmouth. We feel like we’re uniquely qualified to talk about Portsmouth. Well, because for one, you were raised there. I was born and raised guys in town. And then when we met, we spent probably the first 15 years of our marriage living in Portsmouth.
And so we have a lot of experience, although I’m aging us just a hair. We’ve been married a while. If this is your first time on our channel, don’t feel pressured to subscribe just yet. We really want to earn the subscriptions that we get.
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Variety in The City
So for now, let’s get into the good stuff. So we still own a variety of rental properties in various locations throughout Portsmouth. There’s a lot of upside to owning real estate in Portsmouth, but there’s also a lot of cons and things to consider from that perspective as well.
So we’ve bought and sold multiple personal residences as well homes that we’ve actually lived in and raise their family. And as a matter of fact, a home that we built in the Churchland District in midfield point right next to Hatton Point was the first home that we ever built, and here’s some pictures for you.
We spent many an evening hanging out in that very hot tub, smoking a cigar, maybe doing a business deal on occasion, drinking a glass of wine. We absolutely enjoyed that home, that wood burning fireplace. It’s right there. That was actually on the second floor of the home and we had to go back and forth with the city like five times to make sure that the fire ratings were right and the weight ratings were good. But needless to say, it was a beautiful home. We raised our kids there for many years and enjoyed it.
So there’s a lot of upside to Portsmouth real estate and we will give you the unfiltered, raw, uncut truth about our perspective, the pros and cons. And you can trust that it comes from a very informed opinion in a place of authority because we live there. So also, if you stay to the end, we’ll give you some recommendations on our favorite eateries and watering holes.
But for now, let’s talk about P-Town. Yeah. Now, to give you some context of where Portsmouth is, it is west of Norfolk and the Elizabeth River runs between Norfolk and Portsmouth. It’s connected by multiple tunnels the Midtown Tunnel, the downtown tunnel through the downtown Midtown Port Norfolk area of Portsmouth Port, Norfolk.
Even though it’s in Portsmouth, that’s fine. I don’t know why, but. And then you have the central portion towards the eastern portion and those are you have a big variety of types of homes and people that live there.
And then you have the church, one side of Portsmouth, which is pretty close to it, actually borders Chesapeake and the Suffolk areas. So basically, there’s a lot of variety of Portsmouth within the small little area. It’s kind of the heart of Hampton Roads, and it’s the kind of thing where it might have one feel and you drive a mile and a half and it feels totally different. So as you explore the city, it’ll start to make sense.
Also worth noting that as real estate brokers we can’t really specify what a good area or a bad neighborhood is, but we can’t give you facts and data and suggest certain websites and research for you to do yourself so you can make really good decisions and decide for you what you believe is good for you and your family. So let’s start with some negativity. We’ll get going with some cons, right? And it’s a big one, particularly first.
Con: Schools
Yeah, exactly. And with the bad news, particularly if you’re a parent, the schools, generally speaking, are not rated really high. They’re all ranked fairly low if you go to great schools dot org. I believe Portsmouth is in the lower third of all of Hampton Roads, so there is a variety of private school options and that’s something that we actually ended up doing ourselves. After doing some research on the public schools, we decided we went private. So if you’re a parent, do your homework and be thorough when you’re considering this. Obviously, your kid’s education is a huge deal and they’re very deserving of the best opportunities that they can get.
Con: Crime
So Con number two is a crime. Portsmouth is known for having some high crime areas, so there’s a lot of websites that you can utilize to find out more in-depth stats, including what neighbors have higher crime, and even specifically what types of offenses and offenders who have committed in those areas.
So look at the crime map. Spend some time on Google checking out the crime map, so you kind of get a feel for what exactly you’re dealing with. It’s going to be worth knowing and considering as part of your home investment process.
Con: Tolls
Now, con number three, in our opinion, would be the tolls. Just in the past couple of years, we’ve seen tolls added to the Midtown Tunnel, the downtown tunnel and which connects us to Norfolk and the Jordan Bridge, which connects Portsmouth to the Chesapeake area. So pretty much if you’re going south at any point from Portsmouth, you’re going to hit a toll. Prior to this, we didn’t have tolls and it was really a cool thing. But right now you’re probably pay… the good old days of P-town.
You’re paying about $2.20 to go through the downtown tunnel each way, which can add up. So if you’re doing the math and you live in Portsmouth and you work somewhere on the other side of the water, which people always say the other side of the water five days a week, you’re probably going to spend about eleven hundred twelve hundred dollars a year on tolls, which you know, ends up something to consider.
Con: Real Estate Tax
Number four, frankly, for me, this is actually a personal pet peeve and could have been my number one con. But the Portsmouth has the highest real estate taxes in all of Hampton Roads. And when compared to Virginia Beach, which has the lowest tax rate in all of Hampton Roads, they’re on opposite ends of a spectrum in real estate taxes and also on opposite ends in terms of high school rankings. So Virginia Beach has some of the best schools in the area, and Portsmouth has some of the lowest ranked schools in the area. So there’s really no correlation in real estate taxes and the school scores. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions on why that is, but it is just kind of a peculiar thing to me. It’s a bit of an anomaly.
So consider this Portsmouth real estate tax rate is a dollar 30 for every hundred dollars of assessed value that’s 31% higher than Virginia Beach. So what that means is on a 200,000 dollar house, you’re paying approximately $2,600 a year in real estate taxes in Portsmouth, whereas that same $200,000 tax assessed home in Virginia Beach would be closer to $2000 for the same type of assessment. So something to think about. $600 in increased real estate tax per year when comparing to Virginia Beach. Obviously, the other cities are going to be a little closer to Portsmouth because Virginia Beach has the lowest tax rate and Portsmouth has the highest one.
Con: Public Perception
That brings me actually to con number five, and while it may not be entirely true, sometimes perception is reality, and there is a bit of a general public perception that Portsmouth is not really a fun city. It’s kind of rundown.
It’s unsafe. Most of the people, if you’re from the other six cities, they kind of like, you know, you’re almost like shunned. If you say, I live in Portsmouth, they’re like, Oh, good for you. Somebody needs to live there.
But it’s totally not the case, but there is a bit of a stigma about it and something that you should be aware of. So you might be wondering, should I even consider living in Portsmouth? We told you we’d give it to you straight.
But the reality is, it’s fair to say we love Portsmouth. There are a ton of cool things about it. And so let’s get into some more positivity about Portsmouth because it really does have a lot to offer. So my first one would be Old Town.
Old Towne is simply amazing. If you’ve spent some time in like small historic towns, this is exactly that textbook. It’s similar Ghent in Norfolk, except maybe a little smaller, just not as big as Ghent. There’s not a ton to do, but there’s a lot of history. Let a rich history, a lot of really cool architecture. Some of the houses are 300 plus years old. They’re still standing. Some of them have been restored. So you can totally time travel when walking down high street or some of those streets down in Old Towne Portsmouth. It’s one of the few cities that have a lot of period homes still intact, like I was saying. So some of these homes that were built in the 1700s really haven’t changed much, if at all, and have been restored in a historic district.
So they still have that same feel and elegance that they did when they were first built. There’s also a tour that can walk you through 60 plus of these older homes. And as you walk down the streets, the walking tours online actually give you a description of the houses that you’re looking at. So it’s really worthwhile to set up a tour and go check out Old Towne.
Pro: Restaurants
A pro of Portsmouth. Let’s talk about the restaurants. Yeah, there are some of the best restaurants in the area in Portsmouth, Virginia, so the main thoroughfare is High Street and that runs right smack dab in the middle of Old Town, all the way down to the water. So that’s where most of the restaurants are. A lot of the activity there, you know, it’s one of those places that you go to the restaurant, you’re most likely going to see people that, you know, there’s a lot of regulars that go to those places.
So it can be a lot of fun. So we’ve got the beer garden or Roger Browns, which is kind of one of my favorite places to watch sports. It’s got huge, huge screens, actually multiple huge screens, and they actually have speakers in in the booth that you can change the volume and decide what TV you want to watch. So I mean, that’s kind of cool. Yeah. So anyway, and then across the street from Roger Browns is the Commodore Theater, which is a restored mid-forties art deco style theater with table seating and diner movie theater experience.
That’s definitely worth a stop. I think like I remember going there when I was 14 years old and watching a movie there like it is a really awesome experience. Yeah, it’s also registered on the national registry of historical places and on the Virginia landmark register.
So it’s really cool place and you’ve got to check it out. We watched the latest Jurassic Park, movie there with the kids. Awesome time. Another great recommendation for a local restaurant would be, Still, actually your sister introduced us to that.
I think there. Yeah, it’s very, very high, classy and elegant. You’re going to pay high, classy and elegant prices, so just be, don’t go in with sticker shock, but you’re definitely going to feel it when you walk in. It’s actually located in a basement of one of the older buildings in Old Town, right off of High Street.
It has the feel of like a speaking easy, but it’s TAPOS style dining, which is code for very small, expensive portions of food, but they’re delicious. The drinks are amazing, the service is awesome. The ambiance is incredible. There’s really nothing like it anywhere else in Hampton Roads, so you have to go at least once to check it out. We we have a great time every time we go.
Pro: Waterfront
The next pro is going to be the waterfront views that you have in Portsmouth. The water branches out and you see downtown Norfolk from various places in downtown Portsmouth. And these are some of the most beautiful panoramic views that you’ll find in Hampton Roads. one of the restaurants that you can go see is fish and slips. It’s actually in a marina, so you have to walk down all these beautiful, ginormous yachts and boats and the restaurants right smack dab in the marina and you have these beautiful views of the Elizabeth River. There’s only a few places like it and Hampton Roads. And like right close by, you can hop on the ferry, the Elizabeth River Ferry and go to the Norfolk Harbor or waterside area, which also has a ton of restaurants and entertainment over there.
So you can kind of go back and forth and have a good time. Or if you just want to keep walking through Old Town, there’s a variety of other stops to make. There’s the lighthouse, which is kind of a cool thing. It’s an old ship that they turn into a small museum. And if you have kids and you’re going to be in Portsmouth for a while, I think one of the best moves you could make is going to the Children’s Museum.
It’s probably is one of the highest ranked children’s museums on the East Coast. It’s like mandatory field trip stuff when you grow up here, like everyone in elementary school goes to Jamestown, Yorktown and the Children’s Museum, so it’s must see stuff and it’s really, really worthwhile.
If you go to the north side of Old Town, you’ll see a spot where we frequently go to watch fireworks on July fourth, and it’s probably the best local fireworks display here in Hampton Roads. We go there because a lot of the people that live in Norfolk actually go to the Portsmouth side because it’s just there’s easier access. I’ll give you a quick tip if you find a way to view them either from boat or from bicycle or on foot, that’s going to be your best bet. Traffic does get a little crazy, but it’s even much better.
There’s actually a big grassy area on the water in Portsmouth that makes a great spot, and the traffic is like literally less than half of what it is on the Norfolk side, so it’s a great place to check out fireworks. One other pro is that you have really good access to all of Hampton Roads, so essentially you’re within 15 to 20 minutes of Suffolk, Norfolk, several portions of Chesapeake Hampton and certain portions of Newport News and Virginia Beach is only like 25 or 30 minutes away.
So now that doesn’t sound too bad, but traffic is always a factor. So the time of day and travel route will impact how you go to those different areas. But it has, in my opinion, the well, no by a map if you look at a map part of Hampton Roads. It has the most central proximity to all the other areas. And yeah, it’s absolutely the heart of Hampton Roads.
Pro: Real Estate Prices
So pro number three real estate prices are relatively affordable, probably the most affordable in all of Hampton Roads. So Portsmouth real estate values are lower. You can get more bang for your buck if you like water access. Portsmouth actually really should be a consideration if you’re wanting to get close to the water or on the water, but keep it within reason. You could buy the same house in Portsmouth on deep water versus Norfolk and save literally hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I mean, 20 to 25% discount. Now all things are relative. There’s no two pieces of property that are exactly the same. So you’re always going to kind of be comparing apples and oranges. But if water is important to you and you’re working on some sort of a budget, you’re going to want to at least consider what your options are in Portsmouth. So just in terms of an update on the market in Portsmouth, the median price of homes is $295,000, which is up about 12% from the same time last year. So houses are still appreciating average market time is 34 days to go pending, so the market’s very strong.
It’s still competitive and somewhat of a seller’s market. 34 days compared to 46 days year over year last year, so market times are still shrinking. There were 55 homes sold in Portsmouth this month, and that’s up from 42 homes year over year in the same month last year. So we see strong market, healthy demand, continued appreciation. And outside of something that would impact real estate nationally, we anticipate continued appreciation as long as demand continues to outpace supply, which is the case in Portsmouth.
Favorite Eateries
So favorite recommendation for an eatery is going to be bier garden. Get the beer burger, the beer garden beer burger, the beer garden burger. It’s really delicious. It’s a grilled burger. It’s always like top quality meat. They have a homemade pretzel bun that they put it on some spicy mustard. It’s awesome and a ridiculous assortment of draft beer, so I absolutely love beer garden. That’s my go to. I love legends. It’s right on the water. So you’re sitting there. You’ve got beautiful water views. It’s actually inside of a harbor.
Sometimes there’s music going on there. There’s lots of entertainment. There’s smoked wings are to die for. I’m just. And then, like second place for me would be Gosport Tavern, we haven’t talked about that place really, really good food like amazing food and Jack’s cafe in Churchland.
Amazing breakfast too. That’s a really good cook. It’s a must go to. Yeah, sure. Jonathan Beasley, this is Rachel. We are that fit team professionals in real estate and passionate about people. We’ll see you next week.
